Tyler Key spent a month living off lemonade…and somehow he has enough attachment to it to name his new single after the beverage. On this Americana toe-tapper, the Athens, Georgia-based singer-songwriter tries to find the bright side of life. Musicians include Seth Key on electric guitar, Spencer Thomas on piano, Ryan Moore on drums, Garrett Hibbs on bass, Kimberly Simpson on backing vocals, and Tyler Key on vocals, acoustic guitar, and pedal steel guitar.
Key told Adobe & Teardrops a little more insight into the song and his own best practices for songwriting.
Who are some of your musical influences?
You probably can’t tell it from “Lemonade,” but I was really into hardcore/emo/post-punk for a long time before country or Americana really clicked with me. Jimmy Eat World and Sunny Day Real Estate were as formative for me as George Jones. My dad left a John Prine CD in my truck when I was maybe 17, and that definitely tuned my ear to more folky stuff.
Explain the title of “Lemonade.”
I remember being in a weird spot a few years ago where I had quit a good paying job and was working at a music store. I loved it, but man was I poor. Didn’t have many gigs and the ones I could get didn’t help pay the rent. I swear to God I lived on hot dogs, cans of beans, and a container of Country Tyme lemonade for several months, which only proved to me that human beings can adapt to any environment for at least a little while. There are folks living beside volcanoes, there are folks who live in places where it rains every day, where there’s no grocery stores for 40 miles, where they can’t get medical care. So with “Lemonade” I wanted to hammer that home, while still continuing a narrative.
Do you have any songwriting tips you can share?
I try to write every day, even if I know it’s gonna be garbage. Just a few minutes in the morning, sometimes in the evening if I’m really obsessing over an idea. Even if you’re at work, you can do some form of writing. Mine is thinking up parody songs to the tune of whatever’s playing on the Muzak on the speakers (my day job is in a retail setting which is its own form of purgatory). But even replacing words in pop songs can spark something down the line. Last tip: don’t take yourself too seriously. Everyone is going through something. Just be you. Doesn’t matter who that is.
Do you start off with music or lyrics first?
Mostly I start off with lyrics, because—let’s face it—these aren’t King Crimson songs. I’m not trying to be flashy. But if I have one kernel of a good riff or a good line, that’s all it takes to get the ball rolling and write a tune. “Lemonade” started off with the first verse, which I had written down on a literal receipt on tour, then stuffed it in the back of my notebook. The whole “writing down stuff on receipts when you’re inspired” cliche is true. Go ahead and do that as often as you want. Nobody’s gonna think you’re crazy.
Name a perfect song and tell us why you feel that way.
The first time I heard “Dublin Blues” by Guy Clark, I didn’t think much of it. But the movement, the imagery, the cadence: they’re so honest and specific. But the real thing about this song is that narrator doesn’t have to mention anything about why his love isn’t with him—all the details of their life together let the listener fill in the blank. It gets me every time.